ECUADOR: President Apologizes On National TV For Homophobic Remarks

Hours after Ecuador President Rafael Correa won a third term on Sunday, he used a portion of his nationally televised victory speech to apologize for anti-gay remarks he'd made several months earlier. Andres Duque has a translation on Blabbeando:

A few months ago I used a number of inappropriate words that were offensive to LGBT groups and for which I apologized in writing - and I stated I would apologize again after winning [the election] to make sure they knew I wasn't doing it simply for political gain. Once again I'd like to express my apologies to those LGBT groups for some words that might have escaped me. Each one of us was born and grew up with stereotypes and stigmas and we have to fight against this type of - let's call it deformed - social upbringing, etcetera. But our commitment is to defend everyone's dignity and equality. We are diverse but never unequal.And I was reminded of this by the leader of a GLBT group who I greatly admire a couple of days ago. You need a lot of courage to lead these type of movements. Let's offer them all our support and - on a personal basis - I offer my full respect and the effort and commitment to eliminate all types of discrimination in this country.

RELATED: Ecuador legalized civil unions in 2009 and allows gays to served openly in the military. In 1998 it became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to alter its federal constitution to ban most forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Canada followed shortly after.) However same-sex marriage and gay adoption are both banned by Ecuador's constitution.